Mr.
Schiff: Hi, welcome to "FBI 100, A Closer
Look." I'm Neal Schiff of the Bureau's Office
of Public Affairs along with FBI Historian Dr.
John Fox. John, in 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked
and then the U.S. officially entered World War
II. What did the FBI do? What was the reaction
of Director J. Edgar Hoover?
Dr.
Fox: "Well Neal, of course the Bureau had
been gearing up for war for awhile. Even in the
late 1930s it was beginning to ramp up its Counterintelligence
work and beginning to work with other intelligence
agencies to get ready. Of course, by 1941, in
December when Pearl Harbor was actually attacked,
the Bureau was ready. It had a war plan and immediately
implemented it. Part of it had to with liaison
with other agencies and of course all the police
and law enforcement officials throughout the country."
Mr. Schiff: What about checking up on government
workers and others?
Dr. Fox: "The Bureau, of course, was responsible
for providing criminal background checks so all
of the workers who were coming into the government;
all of the new soldiers going into the military
were run through the FBI's records to make sure
they weren't wanted criminals or otherwise dangerous."
Mr.
Schiff: Were
there closer ties to police agencies around the
country?
Dr.
Fox: "Absolutely Neal. For a number of years
the Bureau had been running its National Academy
which provided professional police training to
law enforcement throughout the country. And it
really became a benefit during the war because
of the Bureau's increased needs for personnel
to conduct sabotage and counter-espionage investigations
and they had a ready-trained group of police officers
who could come into the Bureau and help us out.
Of course it also provided great liaison with
those agencies across the country and we were
able to work with them very closely to ensure
our homeland security."
Mr.
Schiff: From
the FBI's Public Affairs office, along with Bureau
Historian Dr. John Fox, I'm Neal Schiff with "FBI
100, A Closer Look."
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